Travis Henry has been present on the field for only three victories this season, but he secured his most critical win of the season off the field Tuesday.
Henry beat the NFL.
He will not spend a year in football purgatory.
Assuming he does not fail a future substance-abuse test.
Henry achieved what Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Ricky Williams and so many other pro football players couldn’t. He forced the league, upon further review, to overturn a suspension decision. He can keep on playing and getting a paycheck.
In announcing that Henry wouldn’t be suspended, the NFL wasn’t apologetic to the running back or the Broncos for the three months of accusations, uncertainty, appeals and judicial maneuvering. Instead, the league’s statement was terse, guarded and rather snippy.
“Travis Henry will remain in the substance abuse program, must continue to adhere to all aspects of it, but will not be suspended following his appeal. The defense of hair samples and lie detector tests was irrelevant and unconvincing, but our substance abuse program is based on meeting the highest standards and respecting player rights in all phases of its administration.”
It’s not as if commissioner Roger Goodell said publicly: “Oh, Henry, we were wrong. We’re sorry.”
Henry, who learned on Sept. 4 that he had tested positive for a “negligible amount” of marijuana, adamantly and continually proclaimed his innocence — and passed the lie-detector test for coach Mike Shanahan and submitted hair samples to the league office.
The NFL on Tuesday basically pleaded nolo contendere.
Summation: Henry will play; the NFL won’t go away.
Ostensibly, the NFL erred in the faulty handling of the Henry drug testing, response to a temporary restraining order and effort to move the case from a state to a federal court. The league opened itself up to a potentially precarious circumstance in which the New York Supreme Court eventually could have ruled that its policy and practices in regard to substance abuse tests are not acceptable under the law.
The league was more concerned about its system than it was worried about Henry’s A and B urine samples.
So Henry and his attorneys were winners over the NFL and its lawyers.
What does all this league and legal posturing mean for Travis, the player, and Henry, the person, and the Broncos and their supporters (and current detractors) and other players and the NFL?
The league will maintain its substance-abuse testing program (as it should), but likely will be guided by stricter procedures.
Other NFL players who have positive drug tests probably will test the NFL in court.
The Broncos are cooked like burnt pot roast this season, with or without Travis Henry at running back. He still is due the remainder of $12 million in guaranteed money on a five-year contract. (The other $10.5 million is not guaranteed.) They will have to determine after the season if Henry is worth bringing back or will be jettisoned like other high-priced free agents (Sam Adams was the latest Tuesday afternoon) and some who had character questions (Dale Carter, as an example).
Henry led the NFL in rushing early in the season and had 498 yards through five games, but has appeared in just three of the past seven games because of injury and ran for a high of 51 yards. He managed only 49 against Oakland on Sunday and was involved in two fumbles.
Running backs come and go, run and hide, with the Broncos.
Henry has four games to prove his value.
The reaction Tuesday to the long-awaited NFL verdict was reserved, but positive, inside the Broncos’ Dove Valley headquarters, but quite varied outside the walls.
Some people were elated that Henry was “cleared” after being charged, while others were upset that the Broncos wouldn’t be able to recoup bonus money they had already paid to Henry (reportedly, $2 million), caring about the salary cap, not Pat Bowlen’s wallet. Others believe Henry got off on a technicality, and still others are more troubled about Henry’s private affairs, which produced nine illegitimate children and suits demanding child support, and a previous four- game marijuana suspension.
I believe that Henry should stop blaming “second-hand marijuana smoke” when he shouldn’t be in a “first-hand marijuana smoke” setting, the NFL, the media, the fans and the world around him, and he should stop invoking Shanahan, his lawyers and God as his protectors and his judges, and he should start taking responsibility for his actions, his career and his life.
Only then will Travis Henry realize a true victory.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
